UF SB: No. 4 Gators Remain Unbeaten with Wins Over JMU & UCF

ORLANDO – No. 4 Florida finished The Knights Classic with a pair of hard-fought victories over James Madison, 6-4, and host UCF, 12-11, Sunday at the UCF Softball Complex. UF’s offense spearheaded the effort in both victories as the team combined for 21 hits through 14.0 innings.
The Gators (16-0) battled with the Dukes (3-5) and the Knights (10-6) in what turned out to be an all-day affair at the ballpark Sunday.
The Orange & Blue batted .344 (21-of-61) through the two games and was led by fifth year second baseman Hannah Adams (5-of-8), sophomore Katie Kistler (4-of-6) and freshman Kendra Falby (3-of-6), senior Charla Echols (2-for-5) and junior Sarah Longley (2-for-6).
That group combined for 16 RBI through the pair of games against JMU and UCF.
In the first game of the day against the Dukes, Adams belted a pair of solo home runs, while Echols ripped a two-run home run in the 3rd inning.
Fifth year graduate pitcher Natalie Lugo (5-0) earned the win with a season-high nine strikeouts through 6.0 innings and junior Rylee Trlicek earned her second save of the year as she closed out the final 0.2 innings.
In the nightcap against the Knights, the Gators gutted out a victory on the road at the UCF Softball Complex for the first time since 2016.
The slugfest was highlighted early on by a seven-run top of the 2nd inning that gave UF a 7-2 lead. The inning featured freshman Kendra Falby’s second career home run, a two-run home run by Echols that went well over the right field wall and Longley’s two RBI triple down the right field line.
UCF chipped away at UF’s lead with two runs in the 2nd and three in the 3rd to tie the game 7-7, but Adams broke the tie to put the Orange & Blue ahead 8-7 after she forced the Knights to commit a throwing error while she was at third base.
The Knights responded to take the lead, 10-8, in the home half of the 4th with another three-run frame, but the Gators’ bats rallied once again with two runs in the 5th to tie the game 10-10. Adams produced an RBI single and Echols drew a bases load walk.
The Gators took the lead for good, 12-10, with two runs in the 6th thanks to a SAC fly from Falby and another bases loaded walk drawn by Echols.
The play of the game was probably the moment that Kistler combined with Adams and Echols to throw out the tying run at third base on a double to right field that scored the Knights last run of the game. The putout erased the tying run from the bases, which allowed Lugo to close out the game for the save.
The Gators will rest up and get ready for Southern Mississippi this Wednesday, March 2, at 6 p.m. at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Notables:

* The Gators stole four bases against the Dukes and the Knights, which makes it the seventh consecutive game that the program has stolen at least four bases.
* UF is 45-of-49 on the year and it’s the most stolen bases through 16 games to start the season since the Gators stole 43-of-47 in 2013.
* Charla Echols extended her hit streak out to 12 games after going 1-for-3 against JMU and 1-for-2 against UCF. The streak is a career-long which breaks the 10-game streak she established from Feb. 14, 2020 to Feb. 22, 2020.
* The Newnan, Ga. native also recorded three RBI in the game Dukes and four against the Knights, which brings her multi-RBI game total to seven games this season.
* She has also reached base safely the last 14 games.
* Hannah Adams went 3-for-4 against JMU which ties her season-high for hits in a game this year.
* Her back-to-back solo home runs is the first time she’s hit two in a game since Penn March 10, 2020.
* Skylar Wallace went 1-for-2 against JMU and 1-for-3 against UCF and has reached base safely in all but one game so far this season and is currently on a six-game hitting streak.
* Freshman Kendra Falby extended her reached base streak out to all 16 games after going 1-for-3 at the plate against JMU and 2-for-3 against UCF
* Falby also stole her 14th & 15th bases of the season against JMU and 16th against UCF.
* The Odessa, Fla. native also tallied a season-high 4 RBI against UCF and belted her second career home run.
* Falby also leads the team with 10 multi-hit games on the year.
* Sophomore Katie Kistler registered a career-high three hits (3-for-3) in the Gators win over UCF.
* The Orange Park, Fla. native also initiated 9-4-5 assist that erased the tying run from third base in the 6th inning.
* Kistler also scored a career-high three times in the win over UCF.
* Fellow freshman Reagan Walsh also extended her reached base safely streak out to 13 games.
* Natalie Lugo registered a new season-high nine strikeouts against JMU, which eclipses the eight she notched just last night against Oakland.
* The West Covina, Calif. native also nabbed her first save of the season as she pitched 2.0 innings to close out the Gators win over UCF.